Simply Natural Living
Starbucks is hoping that in 5 years – by 2015 – all their beverages will be served in reusable or recyclable cups. To promote the initiative, they are giving you a FREE cup of joe! Tomorrow, April 15th, bring a reusable cup to Starbucks and they’ll pour you a free cup of brewed coffee!
NOTE: Updated in 2015
Mamas – if you don’t already have a personal lubricant in your cupboard – you will someday. Pregnancy, nursing, contraceptives, menopause and some medications can make it a necessity. I had no idea how many natural lubricants there are out there at all price points so you have no excuse not to have a safe one 🙂
Like all personal care products, make sure you pick one up that doesn’t contain the yucky stuff – in this case, estrogen-mimicking parabens, glycerin (can cause yeast infections particularly in women prone to them), phenoxyethanol, and propylene glycol (causes irritation). Also remember that just because a product markets itself as ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it is so always check the ingredients!
Paraben and Irritant Free:
A few to avoid as they may say ‘natural’ but they contain parabens:
Have a favorite? Feel free to share!
Several months ago, I came across a group of women (online) talking about NOT using shampoo. They had various reasons from saving money to using less chemicals on their body to healthier hair. Of course, I thought that was ridiculous and couldn’t imagine my hair without it. Well, like so many times – I was wrong. I haven’t used shampoo in months and my hair has never been easier to manage.
Let me start by saying that I have curly hair – somewhere between wavy and ringlets. Curly hair can be dry and frizzy and a little unruly. I haven’t always loved my curly hair – I’d say we’ve had a love-hate relationship. I’d love it when it looked great and hate it when it didn’t. I went through a phase where I cut it short and straightened it all the time. But, now that I have a daughter with curly hair, I’ve decided to embrace it and make it look great. I hope that she will come to love her naturally curly hair a lot earlier in life than I did.
On the advice of some of the women in the group I mentioned above, I picked up a book called ‘Curly Girl’. Using the steps outlined, I gave up shampoo and use conditioner only. I rinse my hair thoroughly with water and then use a little conditioner to scrub my scalp, loosening dirt and sweat. I’ve found the easiest way to do this is by bending over and massaging my head with my fingertips. I rinse again and then put about a quarter size of conditioner all over my hair. I then rinse my hair, leaving some of the conditioner in. Once I get out of the shower, I style as usual – with a combination of gel (for frizz) and cream (for hold). Then I blow dry with a diffuser.
I’m really happy with this new routine as I’m loving my defined curls – they seem to have more volume and they perk up easily with a little water. I can go 2 days without washing my hair and the curls aren’t as frizzy as they used to be. I also can put my hair in a ponytail and let it dry naturally without any styling products. Before, it would dry kinky and frizzy. I workout several times a week and my hair doesn’t feel greasy or dirty – even without using shampoo.
I’m also happy to get one more beauty product out of the house – particularly one with lots of chemicals I can’t pronounce. Conventional shampoos have ingredients like parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, methylisothiazolinone, or fragrance (check the ingredients in YOUR shampoo).
I also use this method on my daughter’s curly hair. I’ve found her hair to be less frizzy as well. After conditioning, I spray my favorite natural curl detangler in her hair.
While I’ve used this method successfully for curly hair, I’ve read accounts of women using it for straight hair as well. If you want to try out a No Shampoo routine, here are some tips I’ve found that work:
1. Use more conditioner the first week or two. Particularly for scrubbing. You’ll find as you go along, you need less and less.
2. Stick with it. It took a couple weeks for me to notice anything different about my hair.
3. If you feel like you have a build-up of conditioner or styling products on your hair, mix a little baking soda with water and “wash” your hair with it. It will get rid of the build-up. Then go through the conditioning routine.
Let me know how it works for you!
It’s getting easier to find safe, non-toxic bath toys but vinyl-free bath books are few and far between. I found many books that were labeled ‘non-toxic’ but the packaging didn’t tell me what they were made of. I scoured the web and here are the few that made the short list. If you have any to add, please let us know!
Haba Bath Books – Mermaid, pirate or frog
Sandra Boynton – several of the popular Sandra Boynton books come in a bath book
iKids Soft Shapes Foam Books – there are many books in this series
Everybody Takes a Bath – cloth coloring book for the tub
Bath Time Buddy Books by Kate Toms – each book is a hand puppet made of wash cloths
While nursing my daughter, over 3 years ago, I burned through disposable nursing pads. I felt like I was constantly running to the store for another box and at $7-9 per box, I was burning through money, too.
Since then I’ve become more eco conscious and realized that reusable nursing pads would not only be more eco-friendly but more cost conscious, as well. There are several types of reusable nursing pads – find one that works for you!
Reusable Cloth Nursing Pads – You can find cloth nursing pads made out of cotton, organic cotton, bambooand several other fabrics. They come in plain jane white or fun and funky colors. You can even make your own. I’m using cotton ones that absorb well and are easy to throw in any load of laundry. One of things I hated about disposable pads was that they would stick to my damp nipple – making it painful to peel off, particularly in the first couple weeks of nursing. The cotton pads absorb moisture well so I haven’t experienced this problem.
Lilypadz– When you’re nursing, you can’t always wear swim suits, sports bras or workout shirts without showing a little bit more than you want to (you know what I’m talking about). You can also sometimes see cloth nursing pads as they can add a lot of bulk to your bra. Lilypadz have totally changed all that. They are made of silicone and have a “stickiness” to them so you stick them to your breast creating a tight fit protecting you from leaking. They are super thin and you can’t see them under your clothing, allowing you to wear tightly fitted clothing, go swimming or go braless. My only recommendation is not to use them the first couple weeks and/or months while your milk supply is stabilizing because if you are leaking a lot, they won’t keep it in. Every nursing mom needs these and they would make a great gift.
Milkies– I cringe when I leak because breastmilk is like liquid gold. Milkies was created exactly to fix this issue – they save your milk when you letdown. You put it in your bra on the side you are not nursing on and it collects the milk when you letdown. I haven’t used them yet but from what I read it can be several ounces. I can’t even believe that I’m losing ounces every time I nurse. That means if I’m nursing 6-8 times a day, I could be losing 2 or 3 bottles worth of milk, per day. These would be particularly helpful during the first several weeks and months of nursing when your milk supply isn’t stabilized. I wish I had these 3 months ago! If you’ve used Milkies I’d love to hear about your experience!
Follow
